Isaiah

Isaiah Chapter 38

• Isaiah 38:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

God has mercy on Hezekiah. Hezekiah's time of death was drawing near. Isaiah came warn him to get his affairs in order.

• Isaiah 38:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
• 3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

Hezekiah was not ready to go apparently and he sought the Lord diligently reminding the Lord how faithfully he served him all these years.

• Isaiah 38:4 Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
• 5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

God had compassion on Hezekiah and added fifteen years to his life. This also delayed the judgment on Judah because as long as Hezekiah lived Judah was safe from invasion.

God will honor His people who live godly. He told Abraham that if He could find only ten people in Sodom and Gomorrah that were righteous, He would spare the whole city. As we see from reading Genesis, God could not find even ten righteous. God also because of Abraham would not destroy Sodom until Lot and his family left. He is compassionate and good, more than we can ever imagine or think.

• Isaiah 38:6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
• 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
• 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

God even gave a sign to Hezekiah. The shadow of the sun went backward ten degrees. This would have been impossible without divine interference.

• Isaiah 38:9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
• 10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
• 11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
• 12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
• 13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
• 14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
• 15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
• 16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
• 17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
• 18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
• 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
• 20 The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

Hezekiah wrote while he was sick and lamented what he considered a shortening of his years. He lamented being cut down. This made him bitter in his soul and very sad.

In verse 16 he shows gladness and a hope that his life will be prolonged. He shows gladness that his sins are forgiven in verse 17 saying that the grave cannot praise the Lord and in the grave he cannot teach his children truth. Beings alive he now can sing praises to the Lord and serve him the rest of his days.

• Isaiah 38:21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.
• 22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

Isaiah assured instructed him to take a lump of figs and lay a plaster upon the boil and he would recover. This caused a cleansing of the boil and brought the infection to the surface. The healing was already starting to take place.

This is a chapter, which shows God's mercy in dealing with just one individual. It is so hard for us to realize that God really cares for each of us individually. He cares about all that we care about. Through Jesus Christ we can all as individuals walk with the Lord. It is now possible to be filled with His Spirit and to have a daily communion with Him. Now through faith in Jesus Christ the presence of the Lord can be in our lives continually.

Isn’t that great? We do not have to grope about in darkness. We can actually have individual communion and fellowship with our Father in Heaven. We do not have to depend on a prophet, priest or a preacher to go to God on our behalf. Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ we have access to God for ourselves. Each one of us without exception can have this gift of salvation. It is free, it is for eternity and it is for all who believe upon the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins and salvation. The bible is chock full of promises of life as opposed to death. Oh how I delight in the Word of God. While we are among the living we can share this testimony of Christ and His salvation. We can rejoice in praise and in song. We can worship in spirit and in truth.

Throughout the Old Testament we do see many that have not yet seen the hope of eternal life and resurrection. Yet we know some did prophecy of that, one be Daniel the prophet and others.  It looks as if Hezehiah either didn't know of it or in his dispair, he may have just forgotten it temporarily like we all do when we have a lack in our faith. This is why fellowship and worship with other believers is important so we strengthen our faith as we worship. His presence will be with us. Also praying when we are alone, studying His word constantly will also strenghen our faith.

We not only have continual fellowship with the Lord but we can have that in eternity. When we leave this present body we have an eternal place in the Kingdom of God. Why do so many choose to neglect this great way of salvation?

Isaiah 39

Isaiah Index